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113011. ^ames /Ihc/HMUan 



Senator in tbc Conorcss ot tbc "QniteD States 
trom iTticbioan 



procecMnos of tbc Senate ant) tbe Ibouse of 

IRepresentatives in 3oint Convention 

'^lUe^nes^aY>, Bpril second, 1903 



Sftctcb of Senator /I^c/l^Illan•£l TLtfc 
In: Cbarlcs /Roorc 



pubUsbeD bt> Bntboritv of tbc Xcolelatnre 
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NOV 23 (§10 



Lii lln nDctnoriam 

This memorial booklet is published by author- 
ity of the legislature of Michigan, under a con- 
current resolution originating in the Senate, which 
resolution was unanimously concurred in by the 
House of Representatives. 

The proceedings of the joint convention, wherein 
the memorial exercises were held, and which fol- 
low, are taken from the official journals of the 
House and Senate, the addresses delivered on the 
occasion being followed by a sketch of Senator 
McMillan's life, written by Mr. Charles Moore, 
for many years Senator McMillan's private sec- 
retary. 



The follcnving- Concurrent Resolution was offered 
by Mr. Combs : 

Resolved (the Senate concurring), That 
a committee of three from the House be ap- 
pointed by the Speaker to act witli a like com- 
mittee of the Senate in making arrangements 
for a joint session of the two Houses in 
memory of the late James McMillan. United 
States Senator, who died August lo, 1902. 
The Speaker announced that the resolution would 
lie over one day under the rules. 

House Journal, January .?/. 

On the following da}', th.e resolution was unani- 
mously adopted. 



The following message from the House was re- 
ceived and read : 

House of Representativks, 
January 28, 1903. 
To the President of the Senate: 

Sir — I am instructed by the House to transmit to 
the Senate the following concurrent resolution : 
House resolution No. 50. 

Resolved (the Senate concurring), That 
a committee of three from the House be ap- 
pointed by the Speaker to act with a like com- 
mittee of the Senate in making arrangements 
for a joint session of the two Houses in 
memory of the late James McMillan, United 
States Senator, who died August 10, 1902; 
Which has been adopted by the House, and in 
which the concurrence of the Senate is respectfully 
asked. 

Very respectfully, 

Charles S. Pierce, 
Clerk of the House of Representatives. 



The qucstic^n heing on concurrint,' in the adoption 
of the resohition. 

The resolution was unanimously adopted. 

The President announced as such committee, on the 
part of the Senate. Senators Lockerby. (ilazier and 
Farr. 

Sfftate- Jounuil , January 2i}. 



The following message from the Senate was re- 
ceived and read : 

Senate Chamber, 
January 29, 1903. 
To the Speaker of tJie House of Representatives: 

Sir — I am instructed by the Senate to return to the 
House the following concurrent resolution : 
House resolution No. 50. 

Resolved (the Senate concurring), That 
a committee of three from the House be ap- 
pointed by the Speaker to act with a like com- 
mittee of the Senate in making arrangements 
for a joint session of the two Houses in 
memory of the late James McMillan, United 
States Senator, who died August 10, 1902; 
And to inform the House that the Senate has con- 
curred in the adoption of the resolution. 



And also to inform the House that Senators Lock- 
erby, Glazier and Farr have been named by the Sen- 
ate to act with a like committee of the House. 
Very respectfully, 

Elbert V. Chilson, 
Secretary of the Senate. 

House Journal, January 2Q. 



The Speaker announced the appointment, under 
House resolution No. 50. of the following committee 
to act with a like committee of the Senate to arrange 
for a joint session in memory of the late James Mc- 
Millan: Representatives Neal, Bolton and Seeley. 

House Journal, January 2g. 



The Select Committee appointed under House reso- 
lution No. 50, through its chairman. :\Ir. Neal. made 
the following report : 

The committee appointed to arrange for a memorial 
convention of the two Houses for the purpose of pay- 
ing a fitting tribute to the memory of the late dis- 
tinguished United States Senator from Michigan, the 
Honorable James McMillan, reports that it has met 



with a like committee from the Senate and has made 
the following arrangements: 

Both Houses will convene in Representative Hall 
April 2, 1903. at eight o'clock p. m., and will be 
addressed by Senator Julius C. Burrows, Senator Rus- 
sell A. Alger. Ex-Senator Thomas W. Palmer and 
Ex-Senator John Patton. The program will 1)C inter- 
spersed with appropriate music. 

The committee recommends that suitable invita- 
tions to attend the exercises be issued to the Presi- 
dent of the United States, the Michigan members 
in Congress, His Excellency the Governor, State 
Officers, Members of the Supreme Court, and other 
prominent men; and that the floor of Representative 
Hall l)e reserved for members of the Legislature and 
invited guests, and that the gallery be thrown open 
to the general public. 

Frank S. Neal, 
T. D. Seeley, 
Earl B. Bolton. 

The report was adopted. 

House Jourttiil, March j. 



The Select Committee appointed under House Reso- 
lution Xo. 50, through its Chairman, Mr. Lockerby, 
made the following report : 

Your committee appointed for the purpose of ar- 
ranging for a memorial service of the two Houses 
for the purpose of paying a fitting tribute to the mem- 
ory of the late distinguished United States Senator 
from Michigan, the Honorable James McMillan, beg 
leave to report that they have met with the like com- 
mittee from the House and have arranged as follows : 

Both Houses will convene in Representative Hall 
April 2, 1903, at eight o'clock p. m. and will be ad- 
dressed by Senator Julius C. Burrows. Senator Russell 
A. Alger, Ex-Senator Thomas W. Palmer and Ex- 
Senator John Patton. The program will be inter- 
spersed with appropriate music. 

The committee further recommends that suitable in- 
vitations to attend the exercises be issued to the Presi- 
dent of the United States, the Michigan members 
in Congress, His Excellency the Governor, State 
Officers, Members of the Supreme Court, and other 
prominent men, and that the floor of Representative 
Hall be reserved for members of the Legislature and 



>4 



invited p:uests. and tliat the gallery be thrown open to 
the general puhhc. 

Respect fully sul )init t cd , 

Wm H. Lockerby, 
A. W. Farr, 
F. P. Glazikr, 
Senate Co»nn{ttee. 
The report was adopted. 

Sc-natt' Journal, March j. 



The Senate was called to order by the President 
pro teni. at 7:30 o'clock p. m. 

A quorum of the Senate was present. 

The Sergeant-at-Arms announced a committee 
from the House. 

The committee informed the Senate that the House 
was in session and ready to receive the Senate in Joint 
Convention, to participate in memorial exercises in 
memory of the late United States Senator, James Mc- 
Millan. 

The Senate proceeded to the Hall of the House of 
Representatives. 

Senate Journal, Af^ril s. 



The House was called to order by the Speaker at 
7 145 o'clock p. m. 



Pursuant to the recommendation of the special com- 
mittee appointed under House resolution Xo. 50. as 
embodied in the report of such committee adopted 
March 3, the Speaker announced that the two Houses 
of the Le.srislature would meet in Joint Convention 
at eight o'clock. 



Mr. Xeal moved that the Speaker appoint a com- 
mittee of three to inform the Senate that the House 
was ready to meet in Joint Convention. 

The motion prevailed. 

The Speaker appointed as such committee Messrs. 
Neal, Galbraith and Hemans. 



The Sergeant-at-Arms announced the committee 
appointed by the House to notify the Senate that the 
House was ready to meet in Joint Convention. 

The committee reported that it had performed the 
duty assigned it. 

The report was accepted and the committee dis- 
charged. 

The Sergeant-at-Arms announced the members of 
the Senate, accompanied by the judges of the Supreme 
Court and State officers, who were admitted and con- 
ducted to seats. 



16 



Joint Convention 



3oint Convention 

The Joint Convention was called to order by Hon. 
O. B. Fuller, President pro tern, of the Senate and 
President of the Joint Convention, 

The roll of the Senate was called by the Secretary, 
who announced that a quorum of the .Senate was 
present. 

The roll of the House was called by the Clerk, who 
announced that a quorum of the House was present. 

The President announced that the two Houses had 
met in Joint Convention to commemorate the death of 
Hon. James McMillan, Senator from Michigan in the 
Congress of the United States, who died at Man- 
chester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, August lo, 1902. 

The following is the program of exercises in Joint 
Convention. 



«9 



/IDcmonal iprooram 

Hymn, "Oh God, Thou Art my God" — 

Allen's Orchestra. 
Remarks — 

Hon. O. B. Fuller, President. 
Invocation — 

Rev. R. C. Dodds, D. D., Pastor of the First Pres- 
byterian Church, Lansing. 
Hymn, "RockofAges" — 

Choir from Industrial School for Boys. 
Presentation ot resolutions — 

Senator Lockcrby, Chairman Memorial Committee. 

Selection, "Not Dead, but Sleepeth," . . White. 

Amphion Quartette: Messrs. Finch, Haynes, 

Waggoner and Esselstyn. 

Address — 

Hon. lohn Patton, Ex-U. S. Senator. 
Vocal Solo, "The Peace of God," . . . Gounod. 

Miss Ethel Farr. 
Address — 

Hon. R. A. -Alger, U. S. Senator. 
Hymn, "Lead, Kindly Light" — 

Choir from Industrial School for Boys. 
Address — 

Hon. J. C. Burrows, U. S. Senator. 
Vocal Solo, "Crossing the Bar," . . Dudley Buck. 

Elton Esselstyn. 
Adoption of Resolutions — 
Hvmn, "Incline Thine Ear" — 

Allen's Orchestra. 
Accompanist, Miss Jessie Fuller. 



Unvocation 

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, we praise 
thee for all that thou art in thyself. The only wise, 
the holy, the just, the powerful and merciful God. 
We praise thee for the revelation of thyself which 
thou hast given us, and the relation we sustain to 
thee. That thou hast taught us the great truth that 
thou art God thyself alone, and that besides thee there 
is none else: that it is in thee that we live, and move 
and have our being; that thou rulest in the army of 
heaven and among the inhabitants of earth, and we 
come into thy presence this evening to praise thee for 
all that thou hast done for us as a people; for the 
glorious history of the past ; for the evidence we have 
that thou hast been with us as a people. Thou hast 
established us as a nation ; thou hast sustained us. Thy 
mighty arm hath led us, through all the dangers, to all 
the glorious victories and achievements of the past. We 
praise thee, our Heavenly Father, that there has never 
been a time in our history when we have lacked for the 
right man for any great and important work to be ac- 
complished ; that when the necessity came, thou didst 
find the man who was competent and willing to lead 
the mighty hosts of this nation. We thank thee for the 
history of our statesmen, and our rulers, of our scholars 



and our teachers. We thank thee especially, this even- 
ing, for tlie history of that distinguished statesman and 
leader in whose honor we have gathered, for what he 
was enabled to accomplish in life, for his sterling Chris- 
tian character, for his patriotism, for the powers of 
mind with which thou didst endow him, and that thou 
didst enable him, in the exercise of the powers given 
him, to achieve so much for our State, for the nation, 
and for the world. Comfort and sustain, we beseech 
thee, by the assurance of thy presence and guidance, 
the bereaved family. May thy grace be sufficient for 
them. 

We pray, our Father, for these thy servants, the 
members of the Senate and House of Representatives, 
who liave gathered this evening to show tlieir respect 
to the memory of the distinguished dead. Way thy 
blessing rest upon these services, and grant to those 
who shall participate in them necessary grace, wisdom 
and strength, and so order, we pray thee, that all may 
be done to thy name's honor and glory. 

May the blessing of God rest upon thy servant, our 
Governor; endue him with wisdom and grace to per- 
form the arduous duties that are his. 

And we pray that thy blessing may rest upon our 
distinguished citizens, the members of the Senate of 
the United States, who are present upon this occasion. 



We thank tlicc fi)r the spleiuHd aeliievetnciits of these, 
thy servants, and onr prayer is that their lives and 
heahh may he si)arc(l, that they may he enahled to 
accomphsh still i^reater thinj^s inr Ciod and native 
land. Hear us. forii^ive us, and accept us. we ask in 
Jesus name. Amen. 



Senator Lockerhy, on behalf of the Joint Commit- 
tee, offered the following resolutions : 

Died, August lo, 1902, at Manchester-by-the-Sea, 
Massachusetts, Hon. James McMillan, senior Senator 
in the Congress of the United States for the State of 
Michigan. 

This announcement, which came with an unex- 
pected suddeness to the people of our State, caused 
them to stand abashed in the presence of the Mighty 
Hand which had deemed it wise to remove from them 
a man who had endeared himself to them by his 
nobility of character, and his ability and potent influ- 
ence in the councils of the nation, and with uncovered 
head they bowed beneath the stroke whicli had de- 
prived the State of one of its chieftains, and the 
nation of a wise and careful counselor. 

The people of the State of Michigan recognized in 



James McMillan a man of keen and far-seeing judg- 
ment, a political leader, conservative and at the same 
time progressive, whose counsel was always on the 
side of right, justice and morality, a statesman who 
was made conspicuous by his invaluable service to 
both the State and the nation, and in whose judg- 
ment they had learned to place the greatest confidence. 
In view of the above considerations, be it 
Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives in Joint Convention assembled. That the people, 
through us, their representatives, hereby declare their 
sense of the great loss sustained in the demise of the 
Hon. James McMillan, that they recognize the loyalty 
of his service ; that they remember him as their devoted 
champion and true friend, and that, among the great 
names in Michigan history, his name will ever remain 
as a synonym for greatness, nobleness and true- 
hearted devotion to his fellow citizens; and that we 
express our belief that in the years to come, on the 
pages of history where are grouped the names of the 
illustrious sons of Michigan who have proven them- 
selves great among all. as servants of the nation and 
the people, no name will read more brightly there than 
that of James McMillan ; and be it 

Resolved further, That, as a mark of the approval 
by the people of the State of the life and character of 



26 



James McMillan, and of their devotion to his memory, 
as well as an expression of their sympathy in her great 
bereavement, a copy of these resolutions, suitably en- 
grossed, be prepared and transmitted to the widow 
of the deceased. 

Wm. H. Lockerby, 
A. W. Farr, 
Frank P. Glazier. 

Senate Committee. 
Frank S. Neal, 
Thaddeus Seeley, 
Earl B. Bolton, 

House Committee. 



Ibon. 3obit Ipatton 



a^^rc69 b\> Ibon. 3ohn patton 

Mr. President: 

When the sad news came to me of the death of 
Senator McMillan I was in the heart of the Canadian 
wilderness, in the province of Ontario in which he was 
born. I thought of the lad of seventeen, who had 
started from Hamilton for Detroit forty-seven years 
before, to enter on that career of endeavor and high 
achievement, which began in obscurity and ended in 
fame and fortune, and added another name to the ever 
lengthening roll of those who are the shining examples 
of the possibilities open to a poor boy under American 
institutions. 

Those of us who witnessed the great outpouring of 
the people of the state he loved and served, the mani- 
festations of sorrow on every hand, and the presence 
of the most distinguished of the nation at his funeral, 
felt that it was a fitting tribute to such a life. Appro- 
priate eulogies have been pronounced by the leaders of 
the great body in which he filled so honored a place, 
and where he exercised such a powerful influence for 
so many years, and it is proper that we who knew him 



best should meet here in the capital of the State to pay 
a last tribute to his life and public service. 

His untimely death, which came with such a shock 
to us all. impressed us anew with the brevity of human 
life and the frailty of human li(.pe> and ambitions. 
The mystery we call life still remains unsolved, and 
all the marvelous discoveries of science in the proud 
age in which we live, have as yet failed to send a 
single ray of light into the future. 

An illustration for it was found when the chief of 
the assembly rose before the old Saxon king in the 
ancient hall and said "You remember it may be, O 
king, that which sometimes happens in winter when 
you are seated at table with your earls and thanes, 
your fire is lighted, and your hall is warmed, and 
without is rain and snow and storm. Then comes a 
swallow flying across the hall. He enters by one door 
and leaves by another. The brief moment while he is 
within is pleasant to him ; the bird flies awav in the 
twinkling of an eye, and he passes from winter to 
winter. Such, methinks, is the life of man on earth 
compared to the uncertain time beyond. It appears 
for awhile, but what is the time which comes after — 
the time which was before — we know not." 

Death, the great and universal leveler, knows neither 
classes nor conditions. It is the one certain event 



which will envelop in its .soinhre folds hijj^h and low 
alike, and yet in our foolish hlindness we travel the 
journey of life with the delusion that it is far removed 
from each of us. 

One who th()U,trht much described life as "a little 
lovintr and a good deal of sorrowiiiL,^. Some hrip^ht 
hopes and many <::^rievous disappointments. Some 
gorgeous Thursdays when the skies are bright and 
the heavens blue, when Providence bending over us 
in blessings glads the heart almost to madness; manv 
dismal Fridays when the smoke of torment beclouds 
the mind and undying sorrow gnaws upon the heart. 

Some high ambitions and many Waterloo defeats 
until the heart becomes like a charnel house filled 
with dead affections, embalmed in holy but sorrowful 
memories, and then the chord is loosed, the golden 
bowl is broken, the individual life a cloud, a vapor, 
passes away." 

And the philosopher who traced the progress of 
man, and marked his aspirations through the centu- 
ries, summed up human experience by saying "In the 
confidence of youth he imagines that very much is 
under his control, in the disappointments of old age 
very little. The realities of life undeceive him at 
last, and there steals over the evenings of his days 
an unwelcome conviction of the vanitv of human 



hopes. The things he has secured are not the things 
he expected. He sees a supreme power has been using 
him for unknown ends, that he was brought into the 
world without his own knowledge, and is departing 
from it against his own will." 

This life which we commemorate had all these ex- 
periences common to humanity, of joy and sorrow, 
success and failure, but much was accomplished, and 
it has left an enduring mark. 

In the domain of business he was indeed a captain 
of industry, at the head of large enterprises, with a 
mind capable of grasping the necessities of the changed 
conditions of our time, evolving plans for transporta- 
tion and commerce, which brought him wealth and 
have done much for the development of iMichigan. 

The great industries which he fostered and man- 
aged gave employment to a vast number of men whose 
welfare was always a matter of much concern to him. 
He told me once that but for the unhappy experience 
at Pullman, 111., he would have built a model town 
for working-men in connection with the car shops at 
Detroit. 

He did a great service to the State when he pro- 
jected and built the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic 
railroad through the Upper Peninsula, for he thus 
married the two peninsulas in indissoluble bonds, 



}4 



allayed the feeling that was growing that tiiey should 
be separated, and silenced the talk of the possible 
state of Superior. 

He was a close student of and familiar with all the 
varictl resources of our wonderful State, and in him 
they always had a loyal and unswerving friend. At 
the head of the Detroit and Cleveland Navigation Co. 
he realized more than any other of our public men the 
improvements that were needed for the development 
of the traffic of the great lakes. The historic back- 
ground of Michigan, the story of the French and 
English dominations, the history of our great water- 
ways, were familiar to him, from the time Jean Nicolet, 
the first white man. the Norman voyageur, propelled 
his adventurous canoe up the river to the site of the 
Sault Ste. Marie in 1634. 

When congressmen from the interior of the country 
were skeptical about the statements of the increasing 
tonnage, which seemed like such a fairy tale he con- 
vinced them and won their aid by taking them up the 
lakes in the summer that they might view it for them- 
selves. He could interpret the estimates of engineers 
to his colleagues, for Hay Lake channel and the St. 
Clair river were as familiar to him as the streets of 
Detroit. The life saving stations, and the revolving 
lights which flash out their messages on Huron. Su- 



perior and Michigan, are the evidences of the watch- 
ful care he exercised over our commerce. 

All this modern development would appear marvel- 
ous to our early statesmen could they see it now, for 
as late as 1840. when an appropriation was asked from 
Congress to build the first canal at the "Soo/' the great 
statesman, Henry Clay, was so uninformed and so poor 
a prophet that he ridiculed the project and stated in a 
speech "that the proposed canal would reach to regions 
beyond the remotest range of settlements in the United 
States, or the moon." 

Senator jMcMillan had a most charitable nature and 
scattered far and wide his benefactions with a lavish 
hand. He will be remembered by the sick and un- 
fortunate for the noble gift he made to Detroit in the 
splendid hospital, w^hich bears the name of the beloved 
daughter who was so early taken from him. 

The Art Museum at Detroit, the University at Ann 
Arbor, Albion College, other State institutions, the 
Mary Allen Seminary in Texas, numerous private 
charities, and a multitude of churches all speak of wise 
and helpful gifts from him. 

He was indeed a kindly man. a gentleman always, 
and had a genial and sunny temperament for all who 
were admitted to his friendship. 



"His gentleness, his tenderness, liis fair CDurtesy, 

Were like a ring of virtues 'bout him set. 

And (iod-likc cliarity, the center where all met." 

As a political t^eneral. he led the campaii^ns of his 
party in this State with consummate skill, in many 
victorious battles, as no one else has since Chandler 
died, and he had the inilxmnded confidence n\ the 
party. 

He was wise in counsel, and by reason of his long 
service, and because of his capacity and ability, he 
served on the most important and influential com- 
mittees of the Senate. Me was the trusted and inti- 
mate friend of Allison and Aldrich and Lodge, and it 
is not too much to say that he was one of the half 
dozen leaders, who controlled and directed all legisla- 
tion there. 

When he took his place on the committee of the 
District of Columbia, the work of which does not 
usually attract the attention of the country, as it is 
local, he introduced such business methods, and gave 
its affairs such fine executive ability that afterwards, 
as chairman, he became the real mayor of Washington. 

He was a skilled diplomat, and settled so many vexa- 
tious questions, and solved so many perplexing prob- 
lems, for under tlic velvet glove was always the iron 
hand, that in his labors there he has left one of his 



greatest monuments, and in the capital of the nation 
his loss will be sincerely mourned. With a vision that 
saw the future, he was instrumental in sending to 
the cities of Europe the commission composed of our 
most celebrated architects and landscape gardeners, 
to study the cities of the old world, and perfect the 
far reaching plans which, when carried to completion, 
will make Washington one of the most beautiful capi- 
tals in the world. When this great work is done in 
the years to come, the name most closely associated 
with it will be that of James McMillan. 

He was a man of marked sanity, clear and level 
headed on public questions, and he was never stam- 
peded by the passing delusions of politics. It was 
worth much to the state and nation to have him in the 
high place he occupied during the period of hysteria on 
the money question we have passed through during 
the past ten years. 

Those who have seen the ease with which he accom- 
plished things in the face of great difficulties in the 
Senate, realized that here was a man to whom few 
ever denied a request. 

I remember in 1894 when the Wilson Tariff bill 
was before the Senate after weeks of weary debate, 
with the majority insistent and anxious for a vote, 
and absolutely refusing all appeals for the introduction 



J8 



of any other business whatever. Senator Harris, the 
fiery and uncompromising leader of the Democrats, 
could not refuse his private request to allow a certain 
measure to he called up and passed, a request which 
he denied to all others, and I saw him leave the 
chamber that he mii;ht not appear to grant the favor. 

Another incident that summer made a deep impres- 
sion upon me when, late one hot night, one of the 
senators from Oregon, who was a member of the con- 
ference committee on the River and Harbor bill which 
had already passed the Senate, and was then before 
the conference committee of the two houses, hunted 
me up and asked me to find Senator McMillan imme- 
diately, and urge him to invade the committee room 
the next morning early, as the appropriations for 
Michigan were endangered by the dominant forces 
in the committee, which were cutting them out and 
increasing the sums for the rivers and harbors of the 
south. It was only because of our appearance there 
the next morning and his earnest plea to his colleagues 
of the Senate on the committee, that the appropria- 
tions for Michigan were restored. His associates 
were glad to do him favors and went out of their 
way to help him. and his uniform courtesy and kind- 
ness to others were invaluable traits. 

With additional proof of the confidence of the peo- 



pie, with increasing power and influence, entering on 
broader fields of usefulness, he was stricken at the very 
time when it seemed that his best work yet lay before 
him. 

The story is told of Saladin, the Champion of Islam- 
ism, that after he liad recaptured the Holy City, and 
won such fame in Syria and Arabia, and performed 
such mighty deeds in the battles of the Crusades as to 
be called The Great, that when he was stricken with a 
mortal disease, and death was certain, he called his 
herald who had carried his banner, took up the lance 
which had been so often victorious in battle, tied his 
shroud to the end of the lance and said to the herald, 
"Go unfurl this shroud in the camp, it is the flag of 
the day, wave it in the air and proclaim, 'This is all 
that remains of Saladin the Great, the conqueror, the 
king of the empire, all that remains of all his glory.* " 

This cannot be said of him we mourn. Death does 
not end all. The life which has been full of high 
service to his countrj-, which can be traced by the 
monuments of benefactions which still bless his fel- 
low men, does not end with the coffin and the shroud. 
He has lived in his deeds, in them he still lives, affect- 
ing the lives of men, the future of states. 



And so the life of our friend, the gentlcnian. the 
philantliropist. the statesman. James McMillan, will 
still, as the seasons come and g(\ bloom perennially in 
our history and in our hearts. 



1l3on. IRussell H. Hlocv 



Mr. President: 

Life is measured by deeds. n<»t years, and by that 
standard the Hfe of James McMillan was filled to the 
brim. Startinc^ without means, save health and a de- 
termined purpose, he rose from a school boy, and 
then a clerk, to the masterful position so well known 
by every citi;^en of this, his adopted State — the head 
of large enterprises ; carried forward with great suc- 
cess until the power of his creative mind was felt 
throughout the State. 

Later, and still while conducting these large affairs, 
he was elected and twice re-elected by the Legislature 
of our State to the United States Senate. A man of 
few words, seldom indulging in oratory, yet his strong, 
comprehensive mind soon made him one of the 
trusted, safe leaders in that great body. What greater 
legacy can be left? 

This busy world, and especiall)' this cc^untrv of ours, 
afifords an open way for every young man wh<» emu- 
lates, instead of envies, those who are in the lead. 

In conversation with an old man. manv vears gone 



4S 



by, when the "kick." as it was called, of a certain 
man was the subject of conversation, this old pioneer 
replied with great emphasis : "Don't talk to me about 
'luck,' give me the man." 

So, I say of our departed Senator, he had a will and 
a purpose; he exercised the first and followed and 
conquered that which he sought. 

He — the man — came and has departed from our 
midst ; but the impress he made upon our State will re- 
main long after the youngest now here shall have 
passed to the great beyond. 

What more can be asked in this life than the devoted 
love of a united family and the confidence and esteem 
of those who knew him best? 

All this we can most truly say of James IMcMillan. 



4fi 



IfDon. Julius C SSurrovvs 



B^^rc£5C1 b\^ Ibon. 3uliu9 C. JBurrows 

Mr. President a)id Geittle))ie)i of the Legislature: 

It was most appropriate that you. the accredited 
representatives of the commonweahh, actiii.c: and 
speaking for the great body of our people, should 
suspend for a time your ordinary functions and set 
apart an hour to pay tribute to the memory of one 
who. thrice commissioned by the Legislature of the 
State of Michigan to the high office of United States 
Senator, fell in tlie public service at liis post of duty, 
full of honors, and at the \ery zenith of his influence 
and power. The death, at any time, of such a man as 
James McMillan, whether citizen or Senator, so identi- 
fied, as he was, with the material interests of our 
State, and the industrial development of the country, 
so exalted in the public regard, and so enthroned in 
the hearts of the people, could not but be a public 
misfortune. 

But to have fallen thus prematurely, in the full 
possession of all of his faculties, on the very threshold 
of the term for which he was elected, and at a time 
when his ripe experience, mature judgment, and con- 



servative character, would have contributed so much 
to the wise solution of the great problems now vexing 
the public mind, to have fallen, I repeat, at such a 
time, in the supreme hour of his usefulness, and of the 
public needs, was indeed, little less than a national 
calamity. The place he held in all the various spheres 
of human activities to which he was called, public and 
private, cannot readily be supplied. He will be missed 
in business circles, in the political arena, in the 
national council chamber, in the every day walks of 
life, and last, though not least, in the homes and 
hearts of kindred and friends, where his name will be 
forever enshrined as a cherished memory. 

But it is not my purpose on this occasion to speak 
of Senator McMillan as a private citizen, in which 
capacity many of you knew him longer and better 
than I, and no words of mine can possibly enhance 
your estimate of his character, or make more secure the 
memory of his private virtues. I shall speak of him 
rather as I knew him in public life, as a member of the 
United States Senate, with whom it was my privilege 
to serve from January, 1895, to the hour of his death, 
a period of more than seven years, during which time 
our relations were of the most cordial character, ripen- 
ing into a personal friendship, the memory of which 
will be as enduring as life itself. It was through this 



JO 



association in the Senate that I came to know him 
intimately and learned to appreciate those great quali- 
ties of head and heart which so endeared him to his 
colleagues and made him such a prominent factor in 
the deliberations of the Senate. 

James McMillan took his seat in the Senate of the 
I'nitcd States as a member of that body from the 
State of Michigan on the fourth day of March, 1889. 
It was the beginning of the 51st Congress, a date 
marking the close of the first century of our national 
life, and the beginning of a new epoch in American 
history. Benjamin Harrison was on that day inaugu- 
rated President of the United States, and both Houses 
of Congress were strongly Republican, with Thomas 
B. Reed Speaker of the National House of Representa- 
tives. The questions confronting the nation at that 
time were not the issues springing from the passions 
of civil strife, but rather great industrial problems 
growing out of and incident to an era of peace, re- 
quiring for their solution the most considerate judg- 
ment and comprehensive statesmanship. It was at 
such a crisis that Senator McMillan took up his duties 
in the Senate of the United States. He had reached 
the mature age of 50 and was fully equipped for the 
practical affairs of legislation. He was, however, with- 
out legislative experience and unskilled in statecraft, 



and it may well be imagined that he felt some degree 
of trepidation in the presence of such veteran states- 
men as Edmunds of Vermont, Evarts of New York, 
Sherman of Ohio and their illustrious compeers, who 
with matchless skill were writing the laws of a nation 
and shaping the destinies of a republic. His duty, 
however, was before him. He had been commissioned 
by his State to represent her interests in the upper 
house of the National Congress, where states are 
equal and every Senator the peer of every other Sena- 
tor, and with that self-reliance which characterized 
him in private life, he entered upon the discharge of 
his duty to his State and country with confidence and 
complacency. His dignified bearing, courteous de- 
meanor, superb judgment and acknowledged sagacity 
quickly gained for him the respect of his colleagues 
and the confidence of the Senate. 

In his assignment to committees, where all the real 
work of legislation in the Senate is performed, regard 
v^'as had to his thorough acquaintance with business 
affairs and his great success in private enterprises, 
the knowledge of which had preceded him and had at- 
tracted the attention of the Senate. He was designated 
as a member of the Committee on the District of 
Columbia, having in charge, under a commission, of 



all legislation affecting' the capital city anil its environ- 
ments ; the Committee on Post Offices and Post roads, 
with its infinite variety of details; the Committee on 
Agriculture, with its vast and ever increasing interests; 
and finally to the Chairmanship of the Committee on 
Manufactures. While not all of these committees 
would rank of the first imix^rtance, yet the subjects 
over which they had jurisdiction furnished ample op- 
portunity to Senator McMillan for the display of 
those rare business attainments, acquired in the school 
of experience, which gave him at once a commanding 
place in the deliberations of the committee room and 
insured his rapid advancement in the Senate. 

By the unwritten law of the Senate, every new 
Senator must take his place at the foot of the com- 
mittee to which he is assigned. Senator McMillan 
formed no exception to this rule. Xo attainments 
however commanding, no fortune however abundant 
is sufficient to break down this practice and tradition 
of the Senate. Senator McMillan conformed to this 
custom without question or complaint, discharging 
every duty, however distasteful and unimportant, with 
painstaking fidelity, until at the time of his death he 
had won his way to a place on many of the most im- 
portant committees of the Senate, over the delibera- 



tions of which he exerted a potent and not unfre- 
quently controlHng influence. His advancement was 
as rapid as it was substantial and deserved. 

At the close of his Hfe he held the second place on 
the great Committee on Commerce, presided over by 
the President pro tempore of the Senate, Mr. Frye of 
Maine, having in charge the important work of im- 
proving our harbors and waterways in the interest of 
foreign and domestic commerce, for which the Gov- 
erment has already expended during its national 
existence, more than $500,000,000. As a member of 
this committee, he rendered invaluable service not 
only to the country at large, but to our State in par- 
ticular, in securing appropriations for the Sault Sainte 
Marie Canal, with a commerce three times greater 
than that of the Suez, while the tonnage passing 
through the Detroit river exceeds that of all the ves- 
sels entering or clearing in the foreign trade from all 
the ports of the United States. This commerce of the 
great lakes, so closely identified with the material in- 
terests of our State and the prosperity of our people, 
was always to him a matter of supreme moment and 
watchful solicitude, and he never lost an opportunity 
to promote its advancement and insure its safety. It 
was in connection with this committee also that he 
sought to secure such legislation as would build up our 



merchant marine and restore our lost prestiq^e in the 
carryinq- trade of the world, a consummalion to be 
attained it we would take the place to which we are 
entitled among the commercial nations of the globe. 
He also reached the third place on the Committee of 
Naval Affairs, where his exalted patriotism and 
tenacity of purpose contributed in no small degree to 
the upbuilding of a navy commensurate with the pub- 
lic needs and the safety of the republic. His services 
were sought on the special Committee on "Relations 
with Cuba." upon which committee was imposed the 
onerous task of laying the foundations of a free and 
stable government for the people of that island, and 
insuring its continuance among the nations of the 
earth. 

So rapid was the advancement in the regard of the 
Senate that in the latter part of his term, in addition 
to his already flattering committee assignments, he 
was solicited to take a place on the great Committee 
on Appropriations, dispensing and apportioning the 
revenues of the Government ; and last but not least, he 
went to the head of the great Committee on the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, in the work of which he took a 
special pride, reviving the original plans determined 
upon by Washington himself, for the building of the 
city, and during the later years of his service devoted. 



55 



much of his time and energies to the execution and 
perfection of such plans, which wlien completed, will 
make the city of Washington the pride of the nation 
and the rival of the capitals of Europe. 

Not only did he attain an enviable position in the 
committee work of the Senate, but through this he so 
impressed himself upon the Senate itself, as to be 
repeatedly called upon to act as a member of the 
"Committee on Committees," having in charge the 
assignment of Senators to committee work, a most 
important function in the effective organization of the 
Senate. Such was his judgment of men, their aptitude 
and capacity for legislative work, that this delicate task 
was always performed to the satisfaction of the mem- 
bers of the body, and with a view of securing the best 
results in legislation. Then again, he was frequently 
called upon to participate in the deliberations of the 
committee having in charge the direction of the order 
of business, to select from the mass of proposed legis- 
lation reported from all the committees, those meas- 
ures which ought to command the first consideration 
of the Senate, and be pushed if possible to a successful 
conclusion. In the performance of this important 
duty, with the courage of his convictions, and with no 
personal ends to subserve, he looked only to the public 
good. 

J6 



This brief review of his pubHc career is sufticient 
to show the coiiimandine;' position he held in the 
Senate of the I'nitecl States, and to brines us to a real- 
izing!^ sense of the irreparable loss his death has 
brous^ht to our State and the nation. Lest it miu^ht be 
thought that these words of eulogy are inspired by an 
inordinate admiration born of a personal friendship 
for James McMillan, I beg to bring to you in con- 
firmation of all I have said, the tribute of the Senate 
itself in tlie passage of a resolution expressive of its 
"profound sorrow" at tlie death of James McMillan 
and the suspension of the business of the Senate "To 
enable his associates to pay proper tribute to his char- 
acter and distinguished public services." 

I never witnessed a more impressive scene than that 
which attended the formal announcement in the 
Senate of the sudden demise of Senator McMillan. 
The hush of death fell upon the Chamber and all 
hearts were heavy with the burden of an unutterable 
grief. Some conception of the depth and sincerity of 
this feeling may be gathered from the many tributes 
paid to his memory by his surviving colleagues, with- 
out regard to party or section. Maine, through her 
illustrious Senator Hale, feelingly said : 

"I do not think in twenty years of service in this 
bodv I have ever known a Senator for whom all his 



associates had so great an affection. To some of us 
who knew him very well, the void that was made by 
his death will never be closed. The love that we had 
for him can not well be expressed. His generosity, 
his thoughtfulness, his wide charity for the faults and 
failings of others, his abounding hospitality, all made 
of his life a sweet song, the notes of which are still 
vibrating." 

Senator Allison of low^a, long in the public service 
and the recognized leader of the Senate, not given to 
flattery, paid this sincere tribute: 

"His manners were easy, prepossessing and un- 
affected. He possessed a charming and winning per- 
sonality. There was a warmth and directness in what 
he said and did that won and held the esteem and 
affection of those with whom he came in contact. He 
was a valued friend — none more faithfully cherished, 
none more loyal and true. His friends knew well 
that, whether absent or present, no disparaging sug- 
gestion would come from him, nor was he ever found 
wanting in fidelity and zeal on their behalf when 
occasion required." 

Senator Cockrell of Missouri, differing in politics, 
but just in judgment, fittingly said: 

"He was an industrious, intelligent, faithful, and 
worthy Senator, and took an active part in shaping the 



lepfislation and conductiiif^ the business of the Senate, 
and wielded a strong influence." 

Senator Piatt, of Connecticut, crystallized his 
thoughts of him into a single sentence: 

"Follcwiiij^ Carlyle's conception. I think T can with 
truth say of Senator McMillan, 'When he departed 
he took a man's life along with hiin,' and was as com- 
plete a piece of American manhood as our times have 
produced." 

Senator Aldrich of Rhode Island, the thorough man 
of affairs : 

"He was always gentle, chivalrous, and genial. He 
was admirable in every relation of life, domestic, so- 
cial and otiicial. The loyalty of his friendship was 
never disputed. The wisdom of his advice in the 
councils of his party was always acknowledged." 

Senator Foster, of Louisiana, summarized his ofH- 
cial character : 

"He was what may be termed a safe. wise, and con- 
servative legislator, meeting all public questions with 
a calm equipoise of judgment, and bringing to their 
solution a ripened experience and the mature consid- 
eration of a thorough student." 

Senator CuUom of Illinois, long in the public serv- 
ice, and Chairman of the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs, paid this just tribute: 



"But one sentiment pervades this Senate; it is one 
of grief on account of his death. In all my experience, 
and my years are not few, I never saw a man of more 
splendid qualities of mind and heart." 

Senator \\' arren, of Wyoming, spoke for the North- 
west when he declared : 

"What I may say concerning our friend and col- 
league, Hon. James McMillan, whose untimely death 
we mourn, can not add to his richly deserved good 
name and fame. ^^lere words are inadequate to make 
more patent or enduring what he accomplished for 
humanity, for his friends, his State, and his country." 

No higher tribute could possibly be paid than that 
of Senator Morgan of Alabama, who in many ways 
is the most remarkable man in public life to-day: 

"I have not known that Senator McMillan, in his 
Senatorial career, was tempted by that mad partisan 
zeal or was exposed to those consuming fires of per- 
sonal ambition or covetousness that sometimes burn 
and rage in the furnace of trial in this Chamber. If 
he was, he triumphed over these enemies of American 
honor and celebrated his victory by presenting, in his 
conduct, a true example of an incorruptible and faith- 
ful American Senator." 

Senator Gallinger of New Hampshire, who served 



60 



with Senator McMillan on the Committee nf tlie Dis- 
trict of Columhia. and now succeeds to its Chairman- 
ship, spoke from a knowledge born of long associa- 
tion when he said : 

"And so to-day, paying tribute to his memory, we 
not only recogni/.e him as associate, friend, and Chris- 
tian gentleman, luit proclaim him the benefactor of the 
nation's capital, the wise and loyal friend of the 
nation's welfare." 

Senator Perkins of California: 

"His life as a public and a private man will ever 
serve as an incentive to bring to bear in public and 
private business that industry, sincerity, honesty, and 
loyalty which made him what he was — a man receiv- 
ing and deserving the respect and gratitude of the 
people of the United States." 

South Carolina could not withhold her tribute from 
the lips of Senator Tillman : 

"Kindly, quiet, gentle, there was still that firmness 
which indicated that he had absolute faith in his own 
purposes and absolute confidence in his own judg- 
ment." 

Senator Fairbanks of Indiana voiced, I am sure, 
the sentiment of his people when he said : 

"His career was one of great usefulness and meas- 



ured by the best human standards, it was a most suc- 
cessful and honorable one. He loved his countr\', he 
loved his State, he loved his fellowmen. He lived for 
them, and he would, if need had been, have died for 
them." 

New York, through her eloquent Senator Depew, 
contributed her estimate of his character in compre- 
hensive phrase : 

"Here we have a friend who in every position in 
life did his duty according to his best lights as a 
father, a husband and a citizen, a man and a Senator. 
He so lived during the time allotted to him by God 
that when in a moment he was called to join the ma- 
jority, he left behind him nothing but praise and had 
before him the certainty of reward." 

And last though not least, Massachusetts, from 
whose shores, resounding with the anthem of the sea. 
his soul took its eternal flight, speaks through her 
ornate Senator Lodge : 

"But behind his ability and his industry so thor- 
oughly shown in his work here and its results was a 
fine character and a nature at once strong and gentle. 
There were no secrets in his life, no hidden record 
which he feared would leap to life. Under the kindly 
manner, the genial good nature, and the sympathetic 



61 



humor was rit^ifi iKiiiesty in <ict and purpose, high- 
minded devotion to duty, and unbending patriotism. 
Modest and quiet always, he was nevertheless ever 
firm and courageous." 

No higher enconiums than these could possibly be 
pronounced, and none were ever more richly deserved, 
and in bringing to you these tributes of his surviving 
colleagues in the Senate, the Nation unites with the 
State in deploring the death and honoring the memory 
of James McMillan. 

What more can be said. Senator Lodge summed 
up the dominating attributes of his character when he 
declared "Under a kindly manner, there was rigid 
honesty and high-minded devotion to duty. Modest 
and quiet always, yet ever firm and courageous." 
How prominently these qualities stood out in his pub- 
lic life. 

During the thirteen years of his service in the 
Senate, though political and industrial revolutions 
swept over the country, following each other in quick 
succession, shaking the purpose of the weak and 
vacillating, yet in victory and in defeat, in prosperity 
and adversity, in peace and war, he stood unmoved, 
the same self-centered courageous representative of 
the people, never compromising with error or surren- 
dering to expediency. 

6| 



"He never sold the truth to serve the hour, 
Or palter'd with Eternal God for power." 

' But his life work is ended, and it only remains for 

us to cherish his memory and emulate his virtues. 
These are a priceless legacy to be preserved and trans- 
mitted. In the mutations of time, all else may lie for- 
gotten, and even these may pass from the recollection 
of men. But if the time should ever come when the 
life and character of Senator McMillan shall cease 
to influence our people in the conduct of their private 
or public affairs ; if the industries born of his genius, 
and nurtured by his sagacity should languish and 
decay; if his unostentatious yet munificent benefac- 
tions should cease to awaken a responsive chord in 
the hearts of the living; if even his name should fade 
from the memory of living men and^be recognized 
only in the dim light of tradition, yet the city of 
Washington resurrected into a new life at his com- 
mand with its broadened avenues, expanding parks, 
imposing public buildings and memorial bridge, 
spanning the Potomac, resting on the one side at the 
base of Lincoln's statue and on the other at the foot 
of Arlington, where sleep the martyred hosts who at 
Lincoln's call went down to battle and death for 
liberty and country; if all else, I repeat, should be 
forgotten, the national capital will remain so long as 



the rcpuUlic shall stand, an cnduritiq- monumetU to 
the foresight, sagacity and patriotism of James 
McMillan. 



The resolutions offered by Senator Lockcrhy in be- 
half of the Joint Committee were unanimously 
adopted. 

Senator Bangham moved that the Joint Convention 
adjourn. 

The motion prevailed, the time being 9:57 o'clock 
p. m. 

Elbert V. Chilson. 

Secretary of the Senate. 
Ch.\rles S. Pierce, 
Clerk of the House of Representatives. 
Secretaries of the Joint Conz'cntion. 



^^ 



BioGtapbical Shetcb 



Bioorapblcal Sf;ctcb 

HY CHARLES MOORE 

Private Secretary to Senator McMillan, 1889-1902; and Clerk of 
the Senate Committee on the District of Columbia. 

When death comes suddenly to a man busy with 
great affairs the pathos of it Hes not in the fact that 
he was not permitted to see the end of his labors and 
to reach the goal of his endeavor. To such death 
"openeth the gate to good fame and extinguisheth 
envy." But when the leader falls too often the tide of 
battle turns ; for real leadership comes only through the 
steadfast pursuit of worthy aims, and is a matter 
rather of experience and adaptability than of accident. 
There were certain tasks to which Senator McMillan 
had set himself, certain ends he proposed to reach ; and 
in these purposes of his he had the confidence and sup- 
port of thousands of persons scattered all over this land, 
who looked upon him as the leader in the new prop- 
aganda not alone for the embellishment of the Ameri- 
can city, but also for the better administration of all 
civic functions. What he aimed to accomplish in the 
capital of the nation others strove to attain elsewhere ; 



and when he declared that Washington should be made 
the best governed and the most beautiful capital of the 
world, the cry found quick response among the people 
from ocean to ocean. 

Thus it happens that aside from the loss to his inti- 
mates of an agreeable companion, a sagacious coun- 
sellor, and a steadfast friend, the sudden death of 
Senator McMillan is a national loss, in that it takes 
away a conspicuous and able leader in a cause which 
the people have at heart. And while it cannot be 
doubted that others will take up the work, and ulti- 
mately will carry it to a successful conclusion, it will 
be contrary to all human observation if any one shall 
be found able to step at once into a place gained by 
years of experience, almost infinite patience, and rare 
ability to adapt means to ends. 

The facts known in regard to Senator McMillan's 
ancestry are not many. Tradition has it that his 
grandfather, who lived in Stranraer, a small seaport 
in Wigtownshire in the South of Scotland, was an 
adventurous sea captain. However this may be. he 
was well along in years when his sons William and 
James were born ; and he died while they were quite 
young. William married in Scotland Miss MacMeakin 
and in the '30's came to America with the intention 
of settling in Indiana ; but friends persuaded him to 



70 



make his home in Hamilton, Ontario, while his brother 
located at Gait. William's eldest son, James, was born 
in Hamilton, on May 12. 1838; and, after a sound 
grammar school education and some years of training 
in the hardware business, in 1855 he came to Detroit, 
where he entered upon an eminently successful business 
career, the steps of which are too well known to need 
repetition here. 

On Wednesday, the second day of January, 1889, 
a caucus of the Republican members of the Legisla- 
ture of Michigan unanimously nominated James Mc- 
Millan, of Detroit, for member of the United States 
Senate, to succeed the Honorable Thomas Witherell 
Palmer, who had not been a candidate for re-election ; 
and on the sixteenth of January, Mr. McMillan was 
elected to that office by the Joint Convention, receiving 
68 votes to 27 cast for the Honorable Melbourne H. 
Ford, then a Democratic member of the House of 
Representatives from the Fifth Congressional Dis- 
trict. He was unanimously re-elected in 1895; and 
had no opposition in his own party when he was re- 
elected in 1 90 1. 

Mr. McMillan's public service had not been exten- 
sive. A member of the Detroit Board of Estimates 
in 1874, and one of the Detroit Park Commissioners 
from 188 1 to 1883, he gave to that city the benefit of 



his experience and counsel at two critical junctures. 
As a party leader, however, he had established a repu- 
tation for success in the First District Congressional 
campaigns of John S. Newberry in 1878; and of 
Henry W. Lord in 1880; and especially in the cam- 
paign of 1886, when as Chairman of the State Central 
Committee he reunited and reorganized the Republican 
party and won a victory when defeat seemed imminent. 
If at the time of the senatorial caucus there were 
prophets gifted with the foresight to discern the place 
Mr. McMillan would come to occupy in national coun- 
cils, they were not among the eloquent speakers who 
on that occasion emphasized the value of the business 
man in political life. And among the letters of con- 
gratulation (numerous, sincere, and hearty as they 
were) I find but one which even dimly anticipates the 
future. The Hon. George V. N. Lothrop, long at the 
head of the Michigan bar, and during the first admin- 
istration of President Cleveland, minister to Russia, 
a man of great refinement of both manners and char- 
acter, had come to know Mr. McMillan intimately. 
Standing outside the excitements and the ambitions of 
both business and political life, Mr. Lothrop deliber- 
ately wrote this letter: 



7* 



f)\ W'kst Im)rt Strket. 

January 3, 1889. 
Dear Mr. McMillan: 

As I mav safely assume tliat the noiuiiiatii'ii which 
I was glad to see announced this morning is practi- 
callv an election. 1 cnme at once U> (Mlcv my congratu- 
lations. You are to be congratulated not merely upon 
your elevation to the high place of Senator, but, as 
I think, much more upon the way in which the honor 
comes to you. I care little for the glamour that usually 
hangs around high public place — that is often false 
and delusive, and at any rate soon fades. But any 
man may receive and cherish with pride an appoint- 
ment to public service which is not the fruit of base 
self-seeking, but is offered as a tribute of the sincere 
respect and esteem of good men. 

This preference comes to you in the prime <>f your 
life; you may justly look for a future rich in oppor- 
tunities for new and increased usefulness. For all this 
you have my heartiest good wishes. 

I will only add that besides my personal pleasure, 
I have a patriotic pride in knowing that one of the 
highest public trusts of Michigan is most worthily and 

honorably filled. 

Most truly yours, etc., 

Geo. v. X. LoTHROP. 
Hon. James McMillan. 

7! 



That kindly courtesy which Mr. McMillan always 
exercised towards those with whom he came in contact, 
was shown to him by the retiring Senator, on the oc- 
casion of a brief visit to Washington immediately 
succeeding his election. Personally popular with both 
the Republicans and the Democrats, Senator Palmer 
made Mr. McMillan acquainted with Senators of posi- 
tion and influence, and thus paved the way for atten- 
tions somewhat unusual in the case of a new-comer. 

Those were indeed stirring days in Washington. 
The election of Benjamin Harrison to succeed Presi- 
dent Cleveland had brought about a political revolution. 
During the four years that the Democratic party had 
enjoyed power for the first time since the election of 
Lincoln in i860, Mr. Cleveland had attacked the policy 
of protection with a vigor that brought about dissen- 
sion and led to defeat. Thereupon the Republicans 
again took office with the feeling that the partv was 
called upon to strengthen and perpetuate that policy. 
Also, certain of the Republican leaders were deter- 
mined to effect the control of elections in the southern 
States in the interest of the whole body of citizens ; and 
hence came a determined and prolonged effort to pass 
what was popularly known by both its friends and its 
enemies as the Force Bill. Again, the silver question 
was coming to the front as a party issue. In the House 



74 



of Representatives the majority, under the leadership 
of the Speaker. Thomas B. Reed, accomplished after a 
loni^^ and hitter fij^fht chanp^es in the House rules hy 
virtue of which filihustcrinc; was effectively ended, 
and the majority was enabled to pass measures after 
such length of debate as the leaders might determine. 
This radical change, placing as it did autocratic power 
in the hands of the Speaker, led to the nickname of 
Czar, whicli became an argument in the next campaign. 
It was amid scenes of such political ferment that Mr. 
McMillan began his legislative career. 

Legislative work is the avocation of a majority of 
the members of the Senate. It is true that a fractional 
portion of that body from choice pay small heed to 
public business, and that another fraction occupy seats 
in the Senate, but are without further influence than 
that which the right to vote gives them. By far the 
larger number, however, devote practically their entire 
time, and their very considerable abilities, to the vast 
and varied concerns of the Government of the United 
States. So exacting and so diverse are tliese tasks that 
each Senator who exercises wide influence does so by 
becoming a specialist. 

The first concern of every new Senator is committee 
assignments, the unwritten law being that each new 



7J 



member is entitled to a place on at least one working 
committee. Having declined appointments on the In- 
terstate Commerce Committee because he was presi- 
dent of the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railway 
(a position he relinquished at the earliest opportunity) ; 
and on Commerce, in order to preserve harmony in 
certain quarters, Mr. McMillan received a modest array 
of places : on Post Offices and Post Roads, Agriculture 
and Forestry, and the District of Columbia, together 
with the Chairmanship of the Committee on Manu- 
factures. 

Senator McMillan found the work of the Committee 
on the District of Columbia highly congenial. For a 
decade or more, John J. Ingalls had been Chairman of 
that committee, and next to him the ranking members 
were Senators Spooner of Wisconsin and Farwell of 
Illinois. One of the bills assigned to Mr. McMillan 
related to railway terminals in the city of Washington, 
a subject that had defied settlement for many years. 
During his first session Mr. McMillan piloted the bill 
through the Senate and during the Congress it became 
a law. Other District measures received such intel- 
ligent and discriminating treatment at his hands that 
when the three Senators named above failed to be re- 
elected. Mr. Mc^^Iillan. after l)ut two vears of service. 



76 



was made Chairman of a committee, among the first in 
importance, and second to none in the amount of work 
and attention demanded. 

His tasks in relation to the District of Columbia em- 
braced tlie entire rani^^c of civic activities. During his 
chairmanship and on his insistence the street railways 
were changed from horse-power to the underground 
electric system; plans were adopted to extend the street 
system of the city of Washington throughout the Dis- 
trict of Columbia: the public schools were investigated 
and radical changes in government were made ; a com- 
plete system of public charities was devised as the result 
of extended investigation ; a slow-sand filtration plant 
for the purification of the water supply was begun ; the 
terminal facilities of the steam railways were com- 
pletely revised in the light of the best practice and of 
future needs; and many like changes requiring breadth 
of view and good judgment were brought about. 

In the minds of the people, however, Senator Mc- 
Millan's name is associated with those plans for the 
development of the National Capital which aim to 
restore the design approved b\- Washington and Jeffer- 
son, and to extend that plan to meet future require- 
ments: so that ultimately the capital of the United 
States shall become the most dignified and beautiful 
seat of government in the world. Failing in one Con- 



77 



gress to secure the establishment of such a commission 
as would be competent to deal with so important a sub- 
ject, he seized the occasion of the celebration of the cen- 
tennial of the removal of the seat of government to the 
District of Columbia to bring his ideas effectively before 
the Governors of the States and the distinguished 
guests assembled on that occasion ; and then he obtained 
the legislation under which he was enabled to secure 
the cooperation of four men of ability so conspicuous 
that their plans have met with the highest approval both 
at home and abroad — Daniel H. Burnham, Charles 
Pollen, McKim, Augustus Saint Gaudens, and Freder- 
ick Law Olmsted, Jr. Keeping in close touch with 
the work of this commission, Senator McMillan sup- 
ported them in the preparation of their elaborate plans ; 
and in his determination that the presentation of these 
designs should be adequate and lasting he advanced 
from time to time many thousands of dollars, con- 
tingent on future approval and repayment by Congress. 
It is in the highest degree improbable that without 
the initiative and influence of Senator McMillan plans 
so comprehensive and so far-reaching would have been 
devised ; and happily he was permitted to participate in 
legislation involving the expenditure of more than 
twenty-five million dollars in furtherance of an im- 
provement the completion of which will require a cen- 



78 



tury. Ill fact the legislation for the removal of the 
steam railroads from the Mall, the essential pre-re- 
quisite to the scheme, not only hears his name, hut was 
the result primarily of his legislative skill and the con- 
fidence Congress had in his intelligence and discrimina- 
ting interest in the District of Columhia. '^y 

Scarcely less engrossing than the District work was 
that of the Committee on Commerce, to which he was 
assig^ied later. Owing to the fact tliat the Chairman, 
Senator Frye, was the president pro tempore of the 
Senate, much of the important work of the committee 
devolved on Mr. McMillan. The deep-water channel 
between Chicago and Duluth and Buffalo was hegim 
before he became a member of the committee; but that 
project was brought into eflfect by means of a tour of 
investigation of the Great Lakes made by members of 
the Senate Committee on Commerce and the House 
Committee on Rivers and Harbors. This tour was 
organized by Mr. McMillan and Congressman Stephen- 
son, and was conducted largely at their expense. As 
a member of the Commerce Committee Mr. McMillan 
arrayed himself with those who stood for the immediate 
and ailequate improvement of the great commercial 
harlx)rs ; and he was heartily in favor of irrigating the 
arid lands of the west, a project which first saw light 
in the Committee on Commerce. 



78 



Service on the Committee on Xaval Affairs, also, lie 
found most agreeable, because of the pleasant com- 
panionship and the large nature of the problems con- 
nected with the upbuilding of the navy; nor was the 
work of the Committee on Relations with Cuba less 
congenial. The latter committee was carefully made 
up from among the most conservative and experienced 
members of the Senate, and that most perplexing ques- 
tion of the duty on cane sugar gave great importance to 
its deliberations. 

An assignment on the Committee on Appropriations 
came to Mr. McMillan against his own will, and he 
served thereon only during the session before his death ; 
but during that short time he was one of its most 
assiduous members. The appropriation for the restora- 
tion of the White House was made at his instigation, 
when he found that the President wished to place the 
work in charge of Mr. McKim. The personal tax law 
now in force in the District of Columbia is the result 
of prolonged discussion and a large amount of study, 
the outcome being substantially the McMillan bill pro- 
viding for the taxation of tangible property situated 
in the District of Columbia. Taken as a whole, this 
legislation is probably the most scientific and the least 
objectionable personal tax law in force anywhere in 
the United States. The fact that it is contained in an 



80 



appropriation 1)111 is a measure of tlic Icp^islativc diffi- 
culties encountered. 

Aside from the official committees of the Senate, 
there are certain caucus committees representing- the 
party — a committee which at the beginning of each 
Congress determines the membership of the commit- 
tees, a body whose decisions are of the highest possible 
concern to the individual Senators; a steering com- 
mittee to regulate the order of business and the passage 
or suppression of proposed legislation ; and a com- 
mittee on patronage, whose tasks are most perplexing 
and bothersome. For the three Congresses preceding 
his death Senator McMillan was a member of the Com- 
mittee on Committees, and many a new Senator took 
occasion to thank him for the consideration he showed 
to their desires and the fairness of treatment he de- 
manded for them when older members strove to 
obtain an undue proportion of the desirable places. 
And when, in the distribution of caucus honors, it was 
not advisable to make him a member of the nominal 
steering committee, at least he invariably met with the 
controlling sub-committee of that body. Again, the 
redistribution of patronage in the Senate, after an in- 
terval of Democratic and free-silver control, was made 
according to a scheme that he devised as the fairest 
possible plan of division, and in that scheme both long 



service and merit were placed ahead of political con- 
siderations. While he never disputed the maxim "to 
the victor belongs the spoils," he was ever careful to 
eliminate from the category of spoils such places as call 
for peculiar efficiency. 

A few years ago a leading Washington correspond- 
ent named seven men who controlled the Senate which, 
he said, meant that they controlled the legislation 
of the nation. The statement was taken up by the 
press, was widely commented upon, and was admitted 
to be correct. One of the seven named was Mr. 
McMillan, and six of the number belonged to a group 
of eight or ten Senators who were accustomed to dine 
together once each week, primarily for the purpose of 
securing harmony and concert of action on party and 
national questions. These meetings were prolonged 
often well into the morning when subjects like the 
federal elections bill, the shipping bill, or financial 
measures brought about a clash of views; for there 
was no one of the number who had not strong opinions 
which he was ready to defend. At such times Mr. 
McMillan was at his best. His calm judgment, his 
ability to see the controlling issues, his absolute pa- 
tience, his uniform courtesy, and his freedom from 
personal bias enabled him to reach conclusions that 
were recognized as both sound and judicious. 



The preparation of the latest river and harl)nr ap- 
propriation bill occupied much of Mr. McMillan's 
time. Just after he entered the Senate there was a 
question as to whether or not President Harrison 
would veto a river and harbor bill carrying eleven mil- 
lion dollars, because of the largeness of the appropria- 
tion. So rapid has been the increase in the amounts 
carried by these biennial bills that when the present law 
was before the Conference Committee, the differences 
between the two Houses amounted to nearly as much 
as the entire appropriation of 1890 ! At first the House 
conferees were disposed to yield but a paltry $500,000; 
but the increases of the Senate had been made in ac- 
cordance with a principle which that lx)dy was ready 
to maintain. One day, after a month of prolonged 
struggle, hasty words passed. Mr. McMillan, who 
was chairman of the conference, calmed matters by 
saying: "Gentlemen, it is evident that no agreement 
can be reached by us. Our course is plain. We must 
report to our respective houses that we have been un- 
able to reach an agreement, and the bill will fail. But 
let us do this in an orderly manner. At least, we will 
shake hands before we part." To which the reply on 
the part of the spokesman for the House was: "Sena- 
tor McMillan, this coming from you puts a different 
phase on the matter. I ask leave to withdraw with 



my colleagues for a short consultation." The result 
was that the Senate maintained the principle contended 
for, and the bill became a law. 

Although after a notable instance of reconciling two 
Senators he acquired the title of ''the peace maker of 
the Senate," I\Ir. McMillan was far from being a com- 
promiser. Often he yielded a minor point, not infre- 
quently he bowed to temporary defeat; but in the end 
his way prevailed. He would say to discouraged ones : 
"Congress meets again on the first Monday of next 
December! we will try once more." Thus it happened 
that as he grew older in legislative work, the close of 
each session saw an increasingly large number of his 
measures enacted into laws. 

Too much stress has been laid on the fact that Sena- 
tor McMillan was not a speaker. It is true that he 
made but two or three set speeches, and these were 
without any attempt at oratorical effect. He was not 
a public speaker; he shunned addressing large audi- 
ences ; but when he did speak at gatherings to promote 
a matter in which he was interested his impromptu 
remarks were singularly happy and effective. He spoke 
in the Senate when it was necessary to explain measures 
in his charge ; and few members of that body were 
better able to pilot a bill among the reefs of parlia- 
mentary procedure. In the main however he cultivated 

84 



silence for a piiri^osc. The late Senator 1 larris of 
Tennessee, a i)arlianientarian of j^reat experience, ij^ave 
to Mr. McMillan this advice: "If you really wish 
t(^ pass your hill, say nothings ahout it unless some 
one asks a (juestion or makes an attack. Then reply 
in the fewest possihle words. More measures are 
killed in' their friends tlian hy their opponents." Often 
Mr. McMillan sat calmly throu.c^h attacks on his 
measures, and sometimes on himself; then when the 
objecting Senator paused he went to him and quietly 
explained matters, so that the opposition was with- 
drawn. This he could do readily, because he took 
great pains to understand thoroughly each bill that 
he presented ; he knew more about it than any one 
else did, and he never undertook to pass a bill until 
in his judgment it ought to pass. In preparation for 
an important measure, he was accustomed to canvass 
the v^enate quietly, and. in the coat-room or the com- 
mittee room, to explain the bill and argue its merits. 
He never asked Senators to vote for a bill as a favor 
to him. and he never voted against his own convictions 
as a favor to another Senator. 

One day a well-known politician and street railway 
man came to Senator McMillan to explain that he had 
made arrangements to have the over-head trolley sys- 
tem introduced into the citv of Washington. Mr. Mc- 



•j 



Millan was not at the time Chairman of the District 
Committee. He listened patiently until his caller had 
finished, and then said quietly that he thought he could 
defeat the proposition in the Senate, and that he cer- 
tainly would try to do so. There was something in 
the way he spoke which convinced the other that the 
attempt was hopeless, and full of wrath he departed; 
and this ended the last attempt to evade the installation 
of that least disfiguring of all street railway systems — 
the underground trolley. 

Although naturally classed among the friends of 
corporations, Senator McMillan always maintained 
that he was their best friend when he insisted that they 
act fairly towards the public. To the representa- 
tive of one of the leading railways, who was trying 
to secure the confirmation of the nomination of a man 
whose appointment was known to have been dictated 
by the railroad, he said with a good deal of indigna- 
tion : "You will live to thank me for defeating that 
man. What your company needs is not a tool, but a 
fair man. The worst enemy you can possibly have is 
an official whom the public knows to be your servant." 

Senator McMillan was never afraid of the future. 
He looked forward to the day when for the good of 
stockholders the Government shall exercise large 
supervision over corporate affairs, especially over the 



86 



affairs of those corporations which rival the Govern- 
ment itself in the masfnitude of their operations. Pub- 
lic ownership of quasi-public works he regarded as 
certain to have a trial in this country, and he was dis- 
posed to hasten that day. althoup^h he believed that in 
the end individual initiative will be found more 
advantageous than governmental management. 

While not a reformer in theory, in practice Senator 
McMillan often became one. He had no sympathy 
with those who would sweep aside existing methods in 
order to substitute some pet theory of their own. Con- 
servative by nature, he believed that the best results 
are obtained by carrying out honestly and faithfully 
the system in vogue. He had a rare faculty of getting 
at the essential thing to be done: and then he would 
accept the most straightforward method to reach the 
end. Hence it was that, although he was often the 
despair of those persons who appeared at the committee 
room with plans for accelerating the coming of the 
millennium, the results of his work were often abso- 
lutely revolutionary, and always beneficent. 

Senator McMillan carried business methods into 
politics ; that is, he carried his own business methods 
into politics. Like most really busy men he was par- 
ticular to keep engagements, and was punctual to the 
moment. On one occasion, a lawyer from another 



«7 



State, who had no direct claim upon him, but who had 
pressing business with tlie President, ventured to seek 
aid by calHng on Senator McMillan at his home. Leav- 
ing the table, where he was entertaining guests, Mr. 
Mc^Millan heard the lawyer's brief story, and appointed 
the hour of 9 145 next morning as the time of meeting 
at the White House. At the moment named the Sena- 
tor stepped from his carriage and in a quarter of an 
hour the business was transacted. Afterwards, driving 
to the Capitol, Mr. McMillan apologized for the early 
hour of the appointment by saying that he had one 
committee meeting at 10:30 and another at 11, a hear- 
ing at the close of the morning business in the Senate, 
and that the Senators whom he had been entertaining 
the night before got into a discussion that lasted until 
well into the morning hours. Thus the evening and 
the morning made his busy day. 

Speeches were irksome to him, and although he 
would sit by the hour in the Senate, watching an 
opportunity to pass a bill, any Senator to whom he 
listened must have something very practical to say. 
And when the day's session ended he usually sought 
that Senator with whom he sustained the most inti- 
mate relations and together they took a long drive 
through country lane or wooded park, before entering 



upon those most cx.ictinpf social duties wliicli plnv so 
large a part in political life at Washington. 

Senator McMillan never made a promise unless he 
saw his way clear to fulfil it. lie held strictlv to the 
text that apjx)intnients to office are made hy the Presi- 
dent of the United States, Senators and Representa- 
tives acting as his advisers when he so requests. Thus 
it happened that he never had occasion to take issue 
with a President over an appointment ; he was alwavs 
consulted: and he acquiesced cheerfully in those rare 
instances when a President wished to select a man 
whom the Senator himself would not have chosen. 
Until an appointment was decided upon, the recom- 
mendations of every candidate received equal attention ; 
and' when the name was sent in none of the disap- 
pointed ones could claim that a promise had been 
broken. In this way bitter feelings were avoided to the 
extent that such avoidance is possible in politics. More- 
over, he acknowledged no obligations beyond those of 
friendship. He would exert himself to the utmost to 
help a friend ; but whenever a man claimed place or 
influence as a right, then into the usually beaming eye 
came the glitter of steel. 

Mr. McMillan had many acquaintances; but he had 
few friendships. Singularly adaptable, and many- 
sided, he touched manv men at diie point or ;iii(ith»"r. 



but it was given to few persons to know him intimately. 
There were peaks and valleys, lights and shadows in 
his nature ; and no one could claim really to know him 
who had not observed the storm as well as the sun- 
shine. When the eye blazed with righteous indigna- 
tion, it was as the play of the lightning among moun- 
tain summits; again, his pity and effective helpfulness 
were as rain upon the mown grass. On occasion he 
could be hard and stern ; but he was so true himself 
that he was slow to believe ill of one whom he per- 
sonally had no reason to distrust. He was an excellent 
judge of human nature ; but he would rather be imposed 
upon than withhold needed relief. 

He would not admit that he had an enemy, and he 
never stooped to revenge. On those rare occasions 
when he was reviled, he set it down to ignorance or 
malignity; and, incased in an impenetrable armor of 
conscious rectitude, he bore the attacks in silence, never 
having long to wait for the vindication he scorned to 
pursue. This attitude was neither studied nor assumed ; 
it was instinctive, and any suggestion that ran counter 
to it met an emphatic negative. 

A respect for dignitaries was born in him. The 
President of the United States, the Governor of a 
State, a member of the Senate, the mayor of a great 
city, each was entitled to respect on account of the 



90 



i 



office, quite aside from what mi,c:ht ])C due him as a 
man. So, too, he respected intellectual attainments 
and worthy achievements of any kind, and thus it came 
about that men of rare gifts delighted to talk with him. 
and found in his receptive and discriminating mind a 
basis for companionship. I have seen men eminent in 
art and in letters go away after a conversation with 
him greatly impressed with the sense that underneath 
all forms of expression there are in all finely organized 
natures certain elements that form a common basis for 
interchange of thought. He delighted in art and his 
taste increased year by year; lie enjoyed books, but 
his reading perforce was limited by the weakness of 
his eyes; he delighted in the theater as a means of 
recreation; but most he enjoyed the conversation in 
the smoking-room after dinner, when men of parts 
got together and there was free play of wit and intel- 
ligence. With true insight he rejected the egotistical, 
the self-seeking, the arrogant ; and he drew to himself 
those sincere, simple, expansive natures among whom 
the interchange of thought is like the leaping of the 
electric spark. 

This is not the place to do more than advert to Mr. 
McMillan's family relations. Let it be said, however, 
that to him home was a sacred place. From it he 
rigorously excluded all who would have been but per- 



ftinctory g-uests. Those to whom it was allowed to 
share his hospitality did so without stint. Whatever 
concerned him concerned also his family. With them 
he discussed the men and measures of the day. They 
were his most cherished companions. They shared 
his pleasures, and accompanied him on his journeys. 
He had no life apart from them ; and wherever he went, 
there for a longer or shorter time, a home was estab- 
lished. Elegance without ostentation, and comfort 
without display were the characteristics of that home. 
The house on Jefferson avenue in Detroit marked the 
attainment of business success ; the Washington home 
stood for the dignity and hospitality of a high public 
official abundantly able to support the one and to dis- 
pense the other. The great stretch of wood and 
meadow and wave-beaten rock at ^lanchester-by-the 
Sea represented relaxation from care and the serenity 
of vigorous age spent amid children and children's 
children. "To have a place for my grandchildren to 
come to, I have built it," he said ; but to them he him- 
self was the life and light of it. 

A great nature dwarfs ordinary natures with which 
it comes in contact. How petty become the struggles 
to force this place or to crowd ahead of that man, how 
mean the imputation of unworthy motives, how sordid 
the attempt to gain political advantage by a trick, when 



91 



brought into the calm, clear lii^ht of a soul iiiaj^- 
nanimous. essentially just, patient in endeavor and 
serene in tlie assurance that to those who intelli.c^entlv 
strive there is both joy in the running and certitude in 
winning the goal. Mr. McMillan never felt that it 
was necessary for him to he elected or re-elected to 
the Senate; hut he always conceived it his dutv to be 
worthy of a seat in that body. The record i>f his last 
day on earth ; the written messages of cheer and succor 
to the unfortunate; the happy hours of sport with a 
beloved grandson; the genial intercourse with wife and 
daughter ministering to what all believed hut a tem- 
porary indisposition, then the quick passage int(^ the 
life beyond — all these things were characteristic of the 
man. While no summons could have found him un- 
prepared, humanly speaking none could have found 
him more ready. There were letters written that day 
which must be copied in the Book of Life; and of him 
may be said by those who knew him best, as Emerson 
said of Senator Sumner: "His was the whitest soul I 
ever knew." 



9) 



PRESS OF 

ROBERT SMITH PRIKTING CO., 

LANSING, MICH. 



lARV OF 



CONGRESS 



013 787 8A6 1 



